Okemos Icon Remembrance Story

Okemos Icon Remembrance Story

UPDATE: OKEMOS - Sip'N'Snack owner Val Korrey dies at the age of 88 leaving a huge impact on Okemos residents.

ORIGINAL STORY: OKEMOS - "Rest in peace." "You will be missed." Facebook users remember Sip'N'Snack owner Valentine Korrey, who died at the age of 88. This just days after the diner celebrated its 55th anniversary.

"Sip'N'Snack will never be Sip'N'Snack again," says Okemos Marathon owner, John Wood. He has know Valentine, also known as Val, for over 41 years.

"Val's just a wonderful person. I'll tell you I never ever ever crossed paths with anybody that didn't have very good things to say about Val," says Wood.

Val Korrey made a huge impact on the Okemos community. Sip'N'Snack had a lot to offer, but it seems what customers cherished the most, was the friendship.

Wood reiterates this, "I honestly know and believe that you could go in there and eat, and if you didn't have the money to pay for it, that didn't bother him one bit because he was all about friendship ."

"Like when someone would leave and it was there first time being there, he would always say 'good bye my friend.' You were a friend, and he made you feel that way," says Okemos Barber & Style Hairstylist Patty Zea. She's known Korrey almost her entire life, working at the shop alongside Sip'N'Snack, which her father owns.

Zea reminisces on the time she spent at the diner since she was just a little girl. "Always packed. Lots of chit chat back and forth. It was very busy, lively. It was fun."

Sadly, news almost as devastating as the loss of Val Korrey, Sip'N'Snack could be closed indefinitely.

"If you never went there, you missed an opportunity of a lifetime to meet an unbelievable man," says Zea.

There are no funeral arrangement details at this time.

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